April 3, 2020 — New York, NY — Kodansha USA Publishing, which includes both the Kodansha Comics and VERTICAL publishing imprints, has made the decision to shift on sale dates for many of its spring and summer 2020 print titles to later in the year, following careful consideration of the global health crisis and related book retail and distribution disruptions.

This decision was not made lightly and Kodansha USA Publishing continues to strive to support its physical retail partners as best it can during this challenging time for the industry. All backlist orders continue to be promptly filled by Kodansha USA Publishing’s distribution partner Penguin Random House. Furthermore, several frontlist releases, including debuts of highly anticipated new manga series, like Wave, Listen to Me!, and returning favorites like Tales of Berseria (Manga) volume 3, Drifting Dragons volume 4, and more, will retain their original on sale dates.

In order to meet unabated demand for fans reading at home, all previously scheduled Kodansha Comics and VERTICAL titles will continue to be released digitally by their original on sale dates. Kodansha Comics and VERTICAL ebooks will be released as originally planned via digital retail partners BookWalker, comiXology, Google Play, Kindle, MyAnimeList, Apple Books, Rakuten Kobo, nook and izneo.

Publishing schedule updates for both print and digital releases are viewable through the end of May 2020 at kodanshacomics.com/new-releases.

“We’re very, very lucky to be working with incredibly resilient and resourceful retail partners and our fantastic distribution partner at Penguin Random House, who are stepping up and keeping the essential lifeline of books open during an unprecedented disruption to our day-to-day business,” said Alvin Lu, Kodansha USA Publishing President and CEO. ‘Getting manga to readers is the top and only priority for us at Kodansha USA Publishing, which we will continue to do during this extraordinary time.”

About Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC
Established in New York in 2008, Kodansha USA Publishing (KUP) is a subsidiary of Kodansha, Japan’s largest publisher. Its manga imprint is Kodansha Comics, which began by releasing Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira and Shirow Masamune’s The Ghost in the Shell. Today, thanks to hits like Attack on Titan, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Noragami, and FAIRY TAIL, it is now the No. 2 manga publisher in the United States by revenue. VERTICAL, which publishes fan favorite manga titles like Chi’s Sweet Home and BLAME!, as well as the popular MONOGATARI novel series, is also an imprint of KUP. Both Kodansha Comics and VERTICAL are distributed by Penguin Random House Publisher Services. http://www.kodanshacomics.com

Chris has been writing about anime, manga, movies and comics for well on twenty years now. He began AnimeOnDVD.com back in 1998 and has covered nearly every anime release that’s come out in the US ever since.